And, now, we present our weekly restaurant review from our friends at Eat It: The Brooklyn Food Blog. This week’s feature is the River Cafe:

I have celebrated a few major milestone birthdays (16, 21, my Mom’s 50th) at the River Cafe (1 Water Street, at Old Fulton St., 718-522-5200) and have always had a lovely time. It’s a perfect spot for special occasions & celebrations or just for a unique treat. I hear they had record numbers on Valentine’s Day for dinner (so much for doom and gloom restaurant reports) and while I’ve eaten dinner there a number of times, I was lucky enough to be taken this past weekend for Brunch for the first time. You enter through their long cobble-stoned driveway on Water St. and follow it as it coils around until the end where you’re greeted by valets. Once you step through the front door, it’s as if you’ve arrived at a dark flower shop. HUGE bouquets of sweet-smelling flowers are everywhere, including palm fronds and more tropical looking plants. Framed maps and old newspapers line the dark wood walls and you’re asked for your coat before you’re directed through yet another set of doors into the main dining room to be seated. It’s then that you first get to take in that view in all it’s glory. The skyline of lower Manhattan is framed by the big windows along the water. The Brooklyn Bridge extends out over the river in it’s colossal beauty and the boats of all shapes and sizes zip up and down through the water.

Numerous staff mill about, attending to your every need. There seems to be a separate waiter for each unique job (water, bread, appetizers, drinks, mains, menus, etc.). We were seated along the wall side by side, facing the dining room and the water. The menu listed about 15 options of appetizers and main courses and is Prix Fixe ($55 for Brunch). We had a Pear Salad with Goat Cheese Fondue, Smoked Rainbow Trout, Omelette with Black Truffle Cheese & Lobster Tail and Chicken Pancetta with Stuffing. Click here for photos!